and then the year 2000 debate with al gore and former governor george w. bush in boston. join us tonight for past presidential debates on c-span. now the debate from the 1984 presidential campaign. president ronald reagan was running for reelection against former vice president walter mondale. this was the first of two debates between them that year. this takes place in louisville, ky. it aired live on october 7 on the three broadcast networks and attracted over 65 million viewers. this is about an hour and 40 minutes. [applause] >> good evening from the kentucky center for the arts in louisville, kentucky. i'm dorothy ridings, president of the league of women voters, the sponsor of tonight's first presidential debate between republican ronald reagan and democrat walter mondale. tonight's debate marks the third consecutive presidential election in which the league is presenting the candidates for the nation's highest office in face-to-face debate. our panelists are james wieghart, national political correspondent for scripps- howard news service, diane sawyer, corresponde